Michalis Kalarakis is qualified for the Paralympics 2024 !

Markopoulo, March 26, 2024

Press release

During  yesterday's national holiday, the International Equestrian Federation FEI approved the application of Michalis Kalarakis for participation with a free card (Bipartite Commission Invitation Allocation) in the Paralympic Games in Paris 2024.

The application was submitted through the National Paralympic Committee after careful preparation and actions by the Hellenic Equestrian Federation, and its approval is a huge success and recognition for Michalis himself, his family and his coach, Mariana Grammatikakis, but also for all those who they supported him in this effort, firstly the Hellenic Equestrian Federation and the Hellenic Paralympic Committee.

Michalis and his horse Eros CS are set to take part in the Paralympic Games' premier event in the Grade I category for the first time, while the 27-year-old athlete will become the second Paralympic athlete since Nikolaos Sigkas in 2004 in Athens.

Thus, Greek equestrianism will have a double representation in Paris, since Ioli Mytileneou has already qualified for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 in the sport of show jumping!

These major qualifications, together of course with the also very important qualification of Angelos Touloupis to the Final of the Show Jumping World Cup in Riyadh in April 2024 and the recent successes of the national teams in the Longines EEF Series and the Balkan Championships, come as a confirmation of the possibilities and perspectives of the Greek equestrian and the targeting of the Hellenic Equestrian Federation in high sport, while strengthening the prestige of Greek equestrianism internationally and the interest in the sport within Greece!

From the Press Office 

of the Hellenic Equestrian Federation